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The Dyeing Of Cotton Fabrics

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An Excerpt: "The Cotton Fibre.-The seed hairs of the cotton plant are separated from theseeds by the process of ginning, and they then pass into commerce as raw cotton.In this condition the fibre is found to consist of the actual fibrous substanceitself, containing, however, about 8 per cent. of hygroscopic[Pg 3] or naturalmoisture, and 5 per cent. of impurities of various kinds, which vary in amountand in kind in various descriptions of cotton. In the process of manufactureinto cotton cloths, and as the material passes through the operations ofbleaching, dyeing or printing, the impurities are eliminated.Impurities of the Cotton Fibre.-Dr. E. Schunck made an investigation many yearsago into the character of the impurities, and found them to consist of thefollowing substances:-Cotton Wax.-This substance bears a close resemblance to carnauba wax. It islighter than water, has a waxy lustre, is somewhat translucent, is easilypowdered, and melts below the boiling point of water. It is insoluble in water,but dissolves in alcohol and in ether. When boiled with weak caustic soda itmelts but is not dissolved by the alkali; it can, however, be dissolved byboiling with alcoholic caustic potash. This wax is found fairly uniformlydistributed over the surface of the cotton fibre, and it is due to this factthat raw cotton is wetted by water only with difficulty."